Hello, tournament fans, players and organizers.We hope you are enjoying the new additions to the newsletter. Be sure to drop our writers a line to comment on their contributions.As always, if you have any ideas or just want to help out, drop us a line.

The initiator of the thread Bones2484 has raised the issue that there have been way too many Point Restricted tournaments that have been created recently. More than ten point restricted tournaments have been started over the last couple of weeks, mostly for people 2000+ in points with the highest point restriction tournament being for 2500+. The point has also been raised that there should be restrictions on how many tournaments a person can have priviledges for at one time, the example was given of one organiser creating 11 tournaments in 2 days...

After the thread started the organiser who is responsible for most of these tournaments changed the description in some of his tournament threads to "All players welcome" but left the title as "2500+" so as to deter the lower ranks. There is also the issue of easy medals, many of the long-time organisers have worked hard for their medals, they have organised long tournaments and put a lot of work into them. Now all it has taken is a few "medal thirsty" players who want to be worshipped to come along and organise these short 1v1 tounaments, with 16 players and just change the map 12 times and you have yourself 12 medals while a more competent organiser is still earning his second medal because he can come up with more interesting and a more appealing tournament which require the hard yards to be put in for a medal.

Please Note before reading on: The content of this article is not the entire content of the discussion thread, there is more info that has been left out for the sake of the article, to getALLthe details please visit the discussion thread.

Bones2484 wrote:All of the above tournaments are announced for 2500+ only. This probably eliminated close to 90-95% of the players who play tournaments. Sure I may be whining because I don't qualify myself at this point in time... but I am of the opinion that ALL tournaments should be made available to every player on the site.

If anything, these elitist games can be ran by PM or in the callouts forum. Trying to pass these off as "tournaments" are a complete joke. This blatant discrimination and conceited attitude has already ruined most aspects of this site, and I don't want to see it ruin the only thing I am still on CC for… Tournaments.

Other Opinions include…

Timminz wrote:I don't see a problem with point restrictions on entry, as long as there is an equal tournament being offered for all the other ranks. Something like the "League of...." tournaments that are going on now. But, to offer half a dozen tournaments that are only open to the top 250 (or so) players is just elitist *expletive*. The tournament forum is not the place for it.

And now the rebuttal…

Blitzaholic wrote: As I discussed in length with some in here on these 2500+ tournaments, this will be my last batch, several liked them and wanted more, I thought I was sparking cc by trying to get more involved in tournaments as many high ranks don’t, but many started to come around after I invited some. Again, I have no problem not making anymore of these after these are done if that makes all happy.… and the reason many don’t play them is because they lose a ton of points! why do 90% of the people that win tournaments feel good when the top 10% in scores are never in them, do you feel like you really competed against the best players on the site? cause you have not….I guarantee you that of the top 300 players on the scoreboard, they are 90% of the best players on this site.

Unfortunately, the TD’s have declined to comment in detail in both the thread and via PM however, they did say that it is within the rules for these tournaments to be organised. Former TD Optimus Prime did comment on the issue however, and this is what he had to say…

Optimus Prime wrote: Blitz, you are blind if you think that those players in the Top 300 are the best "all around" players this site has to offer. I would venture to guess that a majority of them got to that point specializing in one type of game play, and doing that does not mean that they are the best.

Until all of you up there on the first page of the scoreboard start showing up for any and all tournaments regardless of player score or style of play, I will continue to believe you do not have what it takes to truly play in them. You cannot claim to be the best if you aren't willing to play others who truly are the best at their craft.

So what do you think about the issue? Should there be a restriction on “Point Restricted” tournaments? For all the latest discussion and to voice your opinion on the issue, please visit the “Point Restricted” Tournament Discussion.

Well that’s all from me for this weeks News Hound, I hope you have enjoyed this weeks issue.If you have an idea for a good story please feel free to PM samuelc812

New man on top – killmanic has a 2 tournament win lead over Godd and BaldAdonis (16 wins to 14).

Overall:Creativity:Enjoyment:Enjoyment was rated by players that have played the tournament

Thursday February 28, 2008, amazzony started a bold new tournament idea. She would host three very large tournaments in honor of the Olympics.

“The best part about this tournament is that it included many different settings so you could pick which ones you wanted to play.” SuicidalSnowman verbalizes when asked how he felt about the Tournament. As stated, the tournament has a wide rage of settings that everybody likes. The tournament is full of tough players and long strategically played games. Great honor is deserved by merz the only winner of the tournament. merz had to player 13 games to win the tournament. Obviously the tournament is not for the faint in heart, for they will be removed as life is separated from the murdered, violently. Life in the tournament is intense, for each game becomes more and more important.

However, to find the truth, you ask the people that know the truth, the players. “I think the sexy organizer is doing a great job.” martyn fantasizes. Love for Amazzonys’s effort is felt from every one who played. ZionT says, “She runs the most organized tournaments out there and this is the best "large" series there is.” Which is a great credit to Amazzony. Large tournaments are hard to run, but, “Amazzonys’s ability to focus so much thought and effort onto one configuration of the Conquer Club experience.” states bamage. ralphcptc also adds, “Well organized, well thought out and managed well. Very complex tournaments with very little lag time between rounds.” To sum up she put a great effort out and as Dominator7 declares “Amazzony deserves a unique medal created just for her and her efforts.”

I now sit down for an interview with the “sexy” lady and see what she feels about the tournament. “I'm doing/did something big and proved myself that even if things aren't as fun, I can keep going and not abandon what I've started.”Where did you get the idea for the tournament? “I've always wanted to run a big tournament and I enjoy watching Olympics so I guess I put 1 and 1 together and got the 3 parts of Olympics Tournament.”Did you have fun running the tournament?“Mostly yes though I'm not going to deny that there are/were times when I got sick and tired of it, mainly because of the same negative things happening again and again.”Will there be more Olympic tournaments?“I have one sitting in my "Future Tournaments" folder but I am not sure if it will ever be ran.

Well that about wraps it up for me. I like to conclude a big thanks to Amazzony for taking on such a big task. I hope this will inspire other host to put forth bigger tournaments that appeal to the masses. So till next time…

Jumping over every hurdleSir. Ricco

lackattack remains tied up, so his interview remains pending. This week we bring you a chat with Boss_oss_ss. Next week, we sit down with former Tournament Director Optimus Prime. The interview is based on your questions. You can send them in here.

Now, on with the interview!

Q: Hello, Boss_oss_ss.

A: Hey Gozar

Q:How did you find this website?

A:My friend, Strider24, showed it to me.

Q: Why did you join CC?

A:Because I enjoy beating him! Plus I love the game.

Q:Why did you start to play tournaments?

A:I got bored of playing the same settings repetitively, so thought I would try entering a few to try something different.

Q:What made you want to start running tournaments?

A:I wanted to leave my mark on Conquer Club. Also it gets me more involved in CC and meet new people!

Q: How long have you been organizing tournaments?

A: *Views Posts* Tue Nov 13, 2007

Q:What tournament did you first run?

A:Doodle Earth Elimination, Which has grown to the Doodle Earth Massacre and Doodle Earth Doubles Tourneys.

Q: Where did you come up with your tournament ideas?

A: They just pop into my head

Q: Who do you look to for inspiration when organizing your tournaments?

A: Um.... I try and think of other people

Q: Describe the experience of your first tournament ran, and first played in.

A:It took quite a time to fill up, and because of this I had a lot of deadbeats, since then I have chosen better settings for maps and this has reduced the amount of people needing replaced!

Q: How many tournaments have you run already, and do you have a goal in mind for how many you want to run in total before you "retire"? How many are you running right now?

A:*Looks at medals* I've run 4, and would like to run at least 10 before I leave. I am currently running 3, with one on hold until we get a better version of Classic map, but I may have to continue with the map we have at the moment (Keep a look out people )

A:Every Single Setting: Classic , The amount of games is immense, and its a real challenge keeping up with some of the top players on CC

Q:Do you prefer to run or enter tournaments?

A:I love both

Q: Is there a specific type of format that you tend to gravitate towards? Why? Is there a format that is your favourite?

A: 2 player Speed games are my favourite- fast, quick thinking - just how I like it Umm....Standard, Escalating, Unlimited, No-FOW, though I do enjoy terminator and assassin games too!

Q: Do you find it easier to choose tournament settings yourself, or to let the players customize them?

A: I don't really mind what the settings are, but I do prefer to make my own games.

Q: Overall, are you playing a lot in tournaments? If not, then why and where do you find your games to play?

A:Um....I think I'm in 5 tournaments, but only have 9 games running, which makes a change from the 120 I had at the beggining of The Every Single Setting Tourney!

Q: How excited where you with your first CC win?

A:Very

Q:Have you ever won a tournament?

A:Nope- but I hope to......eventually

Q: What is your most disappointing tournament loss to date?

A:The first Tourney that I took part in, Scottish cup doubles, where I didn't win a match

Q: In your mind, what makes a successful tournament?

A:Something that everybody enjoys and doesn't take too long to play in. I.E. a 2-player game on World 2.1 (Sorry to anyone actually running a tourney with this settings )

Q: What do you consider to be the most successful tournaments you've seen run?

A:I think it will be the Cairns Coral Coast Tournament- which was another of my first tourneys that I took part in- must of been about 500 people taking part!

Q: What is the best Tournament that you think has been underestimated?

A:Im unsure- new kids on the block always seem to get their ideas underestimated, but some of them are good ideas!

Q:Have you ever been disappointed in a tournament you have run? What about one you entered?

A:I was dissappointed in my second tournament, The Surprise Random Tourney, which had so many deadbeats that it had to be abandoned

Q: What makes a successful organizer?

A:Someone you can have a laugh with, listens to the people who are taking part and makes it for people to enjoy!

Q: How do you attract players to your tournament, and what aspect (besides a reward of a premium prize or something like that) of a tournament do you think appeals to a lot of players and why?

A: I think the word Conquer Club and words like Big draw people in, but a catchy name or a name that gives people an idea about the tourney I think draws people in. Also having a number if it is the 2nd or 3rd in a series makes people think that its a successful series

Q: Is there anything in particular that you dislike about tournament organizing?

A:The long wait for signups.

Q: For you, what is the best part of being a tournament organizer?

A:Seeing people enjoy tournaments and winning them!

Q: What mistakes do you see tournament organizers make the most?

A:Big tournaments that arn't going to work, that and choosing settings that take too long to finish.

Q: With experience comes the wisdom of knowing what mistakes you've made in the past so you can avoid them in the future. What mistakes have you made in your tournaments that you are sure to avoid in future tournaments?

A: Forgetting to put settings in the introduction, I keep to smaller tournaments which seem to work

Q:What is your opinion on organizer neutrality? Should organizers be allowed to place themselves against their own clanmates in tournaments? Should organizers be allowed to join their own tournaments at all?

A: I do not have a veiw on this, but if organisers want to get involved in their own tournaments, why shouldnt they?

Q: Do you use a "schedule" for updating your tournaments, or do you just wait until they need an update?

A:I just wait!, but i usually update them after every game is finished- which is a benefit of small tourneys!

Q:Should “question marks” be allowed to join tournaments?

A:If they plan on become a full-time member I can't see why not!

Q:Do you feel it is better to give a bye to players whose opponents deadbeats the tournament, or to use a reserve?

A:A reserve- gives other players a chance to take part!

Q: If you could change one thing about Conquer Club in general, what would it be?

A:I would turn the Classic and 'Centerscape' maps back

Q: If there was something that the Conquer Club administrators could implement into the game to make tournaments easier to manage, what would it be? Similarly, is there anything you would like to see taken away from Conquer Club to make running tournaments easier?

A:I would like the time limit of a month for filling up to be taken away- its always a pain! I would like to see a tab on 'My Games' to show all the games that organiser has created to make it easier for updating!

Q: If you are thinking purely on balance of tournament games is there anything you would want changing?

A:Nope!

Q: Is there anything that you would recommend to encourage new tournament organizers?

A:Start small, and look at other tournaments and how they have set up a description of their tournaments. A good description seems to get people involved more

Q: List your top 5 biggest tournament headache's to this point

A:1.I have inside information that Gen1 don't like me because of my small tournaments - its not a headache, it just hurts 2. Deadbeats3. Waiting forever for games to be finished4. People who complain about how they don't like your ideas- just keep it to yourself!!5.?????? cant think of a 5th....

Q:How much time does CC take from your day?

A:about 1 hour on a school day, about 3-6 at weekends!

Q:Are you a member of any clans or usergroups?

A:The almighty Legion of the Damned!!!

Q:Who are you?

A: I am a 17 year old rugby player!

Q: Why did you pick the name Boss_oss_ss?

A: I often get asked this and I don't actually know!

Q:Where are you from?

A: Letchworth in Hertfordshire- England

Q:Favourite play colour?

A:Red!

Q:Favourite and least favourite map?

A:Favourite is Doodle Earth- over 200 wins, least is Conquer man, just cant seem to grab hold of the tactics!

Q:Favourite settings?

A:Doodle Earth, 2 player speed, Sequential, Escalating, No FOW

Q:Freestyle or sequential?

A:Sequential

Q: Any tournaments planned for the future? What are they?

A: Once my Minimalist Tourney 2 is over, the 3rd in the series will start- Minimalist Tourney 2 has been my quickest filling tourney so far- 13 people joined in 1 hour- with only 16 spaces available.

Q: Any parting shots?

A: Bang! Nah If anyone fancies a game or has any ideas that they would like to give me, Pm me!!!

Q: Thank you for your time.

A: See you around!

Interview with lackattack or Optimus Prime Who will it be!?

Notes

If you want your tournament included in a future issue, please PM Gozar using this form:

Hello, tournament fans, players and organizers.New poll has gone up this week. Be sure to stop by to vote!As always, if you have any ideas or just want to help out, drop us a line.

Thanks, and enjoy!Gozar

We also have some sad news from one of our staff:

Sir. Ricco wrote:Well, my time has come to say goodbye to CC. It is unfortunately news to me. Due to personally issues I will be unable to close my account properly. If you like to take over any of my accounts talk to the TDs. If I am any of your tournaments you will need to find a replacement for me. I have enjoyed running tournaments and working on the newsletter with Gozar and Gillgan. But it is time for me to say goodbye.

PM's between multiple players, clan members or tournament players can be handled with one button click instead of looking up individual names.

Over the past week we have all realised in some way or another that our Reply Button is not what it used to be. The Reply Button is now a Reply to All button thanks to the upgrade to the site’s forum software phpBB 3.0.3, this was happily announced by the sites webmaster lackattack.

lackattack wrote:I upgraded the forum to phpBB 3.0.3 and indeed the PM Reply button works like 'Reply to all'

Improvements? Maybe in some cases, but to those who PM but never read the forums, this has turned from what should have been a great improvement into a PM nightmare. Spam, Spam and more Spam is what everyone wakes up to every morning.

As Tournament Lovers we use the Mass PM system a great deal, for sending out tournament games to players, not to mention the countless number of clan leaders who mass PM their clan with information. Before this upgrade, when you replied to a mass PM it would only go to the sender, now with this upgrade, your reply goes to the many others who were included in the original message. You may not want others to see what you are writing, but they do because you don’t know what you’re doing. Now every morning many Conquer Club players are waking up to a full and overflowing inbox, and to find that important PM’s have been lost due to the overwhelming amount of ‘Spam Mail’.

So this weeks News Hound is not only a story but also a warning to all those who don’t know this by now, until we can get two separate buttons for this, instead of just the one please take heed and caution when replying to a mass PM, so we can all make our Conquer Club experience a little more enjoyable. To avoid this problem Night Strike has an Announcement as to how to avoid it…

Night Strike wrote:Public Service Announcement

PLEASE avoid sending out massive PMs using the "Add" button when you are sending out invitations to your tournaments or sending out the games. It gets VERY annoying to those people who have to keep receiving your replies due to the new "Reply to All" function.

Until things are fixed or cleaned up, please add the long list of players using the "Add [BCC]" button. This will keep everyone who receives the PM from receiving subsequent replies. Thanks.

~Night Strike

Well that’s all from me for this weeks News Hound, I hope you have enjoyed this weeks issue.If you have an idea for a good story please feel free to PM samuelc812

Returning next week to get a new list going.

Here are the tournaments that are currently taking signups. Just click the title to visit the thread.

It's been a few weeks now since I've given some advice but now I'll mix something together to all the organisers and players out there in hope that everybody will find something useful. If not from this issue then perhaps in the previous ones or maybe in the future.

Firstly I'd like to mention one more thing about messaging and this goes fully to tournament organisers. Biggest mistake that I've seen in messages is that organiser either says that take a look at scoreboard or please post results to tournament thread but... why aren't you adding the link to tournament thread then? It's just a few extra clicks but make players check your thread and make things a lot comfortable for your players (and to you if you wish people to post results).

Now, lets move on to BBCode. You can read all about it when you follow this link which also locates under smileys when you type a message and it is under "BBCode is ON/OFF". A lot is explained in there - how to make bold, italic and underlined text, how to add colors and change size and how to mix it all. Quoting, code and list is also explained in there. Finally, linking and putting pictures to forums is also in the guide. In some future issue I will talk more about how to manage images and in next issue I will talk more about some tags.

If you have any questions or comments on today's topics then please let me know. Cya next time!

amazzony

lackattack remains tied up, so his interview remains pending. This week we sat down with former Tournament Director Optimus Prime. You can read his previous interview in this thread and scrolling down to issue #4. Next week, we have a chat with Megadeth666. The interview is based on your questions. You can send them in here.

Now, on with the interview!

Q: Hello, Optimus Prime.

A: Good Morning, Gozar.

Q: Why do you get another interview?

A: Well, I'm going to assume that it has something to do with the tournament newsletter being such a long running institution so far, and you needed someone to do a repeat interview because you had run out of organizers. It has been over a year since my last interview, and a lot has changed since then.

Q: Are we running out of new organizers to interview?

A: I think to a certain point we are, but at the same time, there will eventually be a good stock of new blood out there willing to be poked and prodded about how they like to do things.

Q: What do you think of the fact that lackattack is too lazy to finish his interview? Is lack abandoning the tournament forum too?

A: I'm a little bit disappointed. I was really looking forward to seeing what he had to say in relation to tournaments, especially the things he was tossing around in his head for possible improvements to our system. However, having worked more closely with him than most I understand he is a busy man and only has so many hours in the day.

Q: What has changed in your life since we last spoke?

A: In real life, my wife is due to have our first child (a boy) sometime in the next 13 days which is pretty exciting. I'm also getting very close to finishing up my degree at Brigham Young University (wrapping up in 1 year), and I've been working on some great websites in my free time to help further my career. One of them is even related to Conquer Club, but that's all I can tell you right now.

Q: What has changed in Conquer Club since the last interview?

A: That's a loaded question, isn't it? A lot has changed. I think the site has become a little less social, which is unfortunate, and at the same time I think it has become a little more inconsistent. I'll leave it at that, otherwise I'll probably say something controversial.

Q: You retired from tournament directing. What motivated that decision?

A: There were several factors that factored into the decision. I needed more time in real life with a child on the way as well as to spend more time practicing my web programming skills. Also, the site had lost its entertainment value for me. Serving as a Tournament Director and Global Moderator is not something that is "sunshine and cookies," as a matter of fact, most of the time it's a bit of a pain in the ass. Regardless, I did enjoy my time in both positions and learned some valuable lessons. The biggest factor was loss of fun in logging in each day and I wanted to get that back. By giving it up I was able to reduce a lot of stress in my life and have fun again.

Q: What CC related projects are you working on right now?

A: Well, lets see, I obviously have my current tournaments still going. There are 5 still active, and I'm not sure yet if I'll do any past that, but 2008 Sprint Cup was quite successful, so perhaps I will run a sequel to that one at some point. Other than that, there is the usual Hall of Fame updating with Gilligan that I work on, and one other project... but I cannot reveal the details at this point. Let's just say that it is an independent activity site that will force members of Conquer Club to stretch their minds.

Q: What else would you have liked to accomplish during your time as tournament director?

A: I really would have liked to somehow convince Lack to get some tournament improvements done faster, especially the ability to join separate teams in doubles, triples, and quads games. That would be one of the single biggest improvements to CC as a whole, most especially in the tournament realm. Other than that, I think I accomplished far more than I thought I would, and hopefully it was mostly well-received.

Q: What is the biggest issue facing the tournament forum?

A: Organizers who are just looking for their tournament medal, or organizers who are not putting in a full effort. It bothers me to see organizers that make the same tournament over and over and do not demonstrate that they have the ability to stretch their imagination even to the slightest degree.

Q: Optimus Prime, are there any exciting tournaments which you wish you ran earlier in the year but never got a chance?

A: Not really. I try to make my tournaments somewhat unique and I think I accomplish that for the most part.

Q: Any future tournament plans?

A: As of the moment I am writing this, no, but then I've said that before, haven't I? Right now my focus is on other endeavors that I would really like to see completed before I can get back into new tournaments. There are so many active right now that I think everyone will survive just fine without me for a few months.

Q: How do you feel the introduction of the medal system has affected tournaments?

A: My honest opinion is that I feel it was released without proper feedback from the Tournament Directors and that it has lead to a plethora of half-hearted tournament organizers just eager for a medal. The system cannot handle properly awarding the organizers who have spent months running high quality tournaments because there is a cap on the number you can receive.

Q: Your reaction to Classic Art and Centerscape?

A: Classic Art isn't too bad, at least it is playable, but Classic Shapes is atrocious. Centerscape is about equal with Classic Shapes in my opinion. At least the powers that be are allowing a Centerscape REVAMP, but Classic Art needs one too.

Q: What do you think has been Conquer Club's darkest moment?

A: Contrary to what most people think, it was not the dismissal of wicked (that was a long time coming and should have happened sooner), nor the disappearance of the Classic map (everyone will get over it, and likely already has). In my opinion it is the fact that we have not had a significant gameplay related update or improvement in almost a year. The main part of this website is to play the game, not the forums, not the medals, not anything else. To go so long without a new game feature is disappointing in my mind. It doesn't look like anything is coming in the near future however.

Q: Should “question marks” be allowed to join tournaments?

A: I think that they should be given the benefit of the doubt, but should be watched closely in regards to making sure they don't deadbeat or forget to join their games.

Q: People have long pondered the meaning of life, but what's the meaning of life for a robot??

A: It's all about lubricant.

Q: Favourite play colour?

A: Red. I make most of the games I play in and so I am accustomed to just looking for the red numbers when I go to take my turn.

Q: Favourite and least favourite map?

A: My favorite map to play is USA, my favorite to look at is Iceland/Charleston. My least favorite is anything that has some sort of gameplay gimmick.

The FoundryHoliday Map-Making Competitions got underway this week, and there have been many creative entries from both amateur and foundry regular map-makers. The Central America Amateur Open has hosted 5 unique maps made by novices in the Map-Making business, although some of them could be mistaken for maps made by regular map-makers. It was thought there would be many entries for the Centerscape Redux Competition for Foundry Regulars, but to many peoples disappointment, only 4 of the best submitted a piece for the competition, therefore making it a very one-sided competition.

Central America Amateur Open

This is a very tight competition with only 2 days of voting left, Entry 2, 3, 4 & 5 are all fairly close in the voting scheme of things, while Number 1 is a simpler map and therefore is lacking votes. More than 300 votes have been cast in this competition, Are you one of them? If you haven’t cast your vote for the Central America Amateur Competition then click this link VOTE! HERE

The Centerscape Invitational

Yes that’s right the Centerscape Mangled Concoction will be no more once this competition is done, we will have a new themed map that we can all understand. There have been 4 entries and each one has a unique theme, it is certainly worth visiting the thread to check out all the voting action and to view the one-sided vote that is now so evident. To add to the one-sidedness or to balance out the competition please click this link and vote for your favourite map VOTE! HERE

Here is what one of the Cartography Assistants had to say:

gimil wrote:About the competitions, I have to say that I am happy with the enthusiasm and quality that the foundry has shown through both competitions currently being run.

In the The Centerscape Invitational the pro map-makers have produced some lovely work but it is the amateur Central America Amateur Open where I have been most impressed. In my opinion I would have to say that the quality of maps produced by the amateurs have easily outweighed the pros. Hopefully the amateurs stick around and become the next generation of pro map-makers.

This is definetly one of the best competitions the foundry has ever run. Special mention goes to oaktown who put the hard work in that made this fantastic competition possible.

Merry Christmas,gimil

This Competition will not only see a new map for Centerscape but could also see entries that didn’t make it succeeding outside the competition…

This is exciting news for us here in the Tournaments Forum, two brand new maps to play around with and let our imaginations run wild with new possibilities for Tournaments!

Well that’s all from me for this weeks News Hound, I hope you have enjoyed this weeks issue.If you have an idea for a good story please feel free to PM samuelc812

Who was the first person to obtain the maximum amount of Tournament Contribution medals?

Here are the tournaments that are currently taking signups. Just click the title to visit the thread.

As promised, this time we will look more closely into some tags that I'm using and find very useful both to myself and to players who play in my tournaments. Before I get to specific tags, I would like to write a few words how to put the tags into your message/post the most easy way. For some of you it may be simple but I think that explaining it won't hurt.

To add tags, may it be color, size or anything else, you have 2 possibilities. First possibility is to enter the tag(s) and then type your text between them. Another possibility is to write the text first, then highlight/select what you wish to put between tags and then press the tag button.

First I would like to introduce you the most common one used in tournament forums. I'm sure that many players and organisers are very grateful for this one.

It's game-tag and looks like this: [Game][/Game]

This is an easy way to get to games fast. Putting game number between the tags makes a simple shortcut to the game so players could enter it and organisers check the results fast. Are you a player looking to post results or an organiser sending out games, this is the tag that you should always use.

This is meant for organisers who wish to put an extra effort into sending out games. I personally don't use it because it's not in the "tag-strip" so I have to type it every time I wish to use. Secondly I think that if people first see the game they are joining then it might help to avoid joining wrong-setting games. So, I just don't find it comfortable enough to use but I understand completely people who wish to use it and I encourage to test it out to see if it's suitable for you.

I think the main purpose of this is to avoid awfully long posts so loading and scrolling wouldn't take forever. How you wish to use it is up to you and your imagination. I'm personally using it to keep a long schedule short in here (scroll down after scoreboard). To see/hide what's hidden behind spoiler, just click show/hide.

That's it for this time. Please send me your questions, comments, feedback and complaints. May it be a simple sentence like "keep it up" or "enough of the crap, we don't need it". We can put it into newspaper under your name or anonymous or just answer the things by private message if you wish.

Waiting for your messages, full of BBCode!

amazzony

Megadeth666was unable to complete the interview planned for next week. Interviews returns next week, when we have a chat with Japs. The interview is based on your questions. You can send them in here.

Interview with Japs Reader submitted interview questions

Notes

If you want your tournament included in a future issue, please PM Gozar using this form:

Hello, tournament fans, players and organizers.Happy holidays! If you are looking to pass the time during the break, why not check out a tournament?As always, if you have any ideas or just want to help out, drop us a line.

Steelhorse wrote:Seasons greetings and happy holidays to our friends in the Tournament Community.

On behalf of Night Strike, Natewolfman, and Gilligan, I would like to wish all of you a safe and Merry Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Boxing Day, or whichever holiday you celebrate.

The holiday season is a time to celebrate and give thanks for those things that mean the most to you and share them with friends and family.

One of the things the Tournament Staff is thankful for is that we have a world-wide extended family all connected by one thing...the love of creating and playing in Tournaments that everyone can partake in and enjoy.

I wish each of you a safe and prosperous New Year.

Steelhorse

Well that’s all from me for this weeks News Hound, I hope you have enjoyed this weeks issue.If you have an idea for a good story please feel free to PM samuelc812

Who was the first person to obtain the maximum amount of Tournament Contribution medals? Optimus Prime was!

Here are the tournaments that are currently taking signups. Just click the title to visit the thread.

Quest for the Pick of DestinyOrganizer: joe cool 360For my second tournament ever, I have crafted an epic quest for the one true Pick of Destiny: an all-out battle that spans the globe and beyond.Rough estimate of percent complete/signed up: 4/112

Hello, Tournament Fans, Players and Organizers.Happy New Year 2009! If you are looking to pass the time during the break, why not check out a tournament?As always, if you have any ideas or just want to help out, drop us a line. And have a safe and happy holidays!

Greetings fellow tournament lovers, as many of you may heard if you venture outside the Tournament Forum, WidowMakers has been in the process of creating a pack of 6 individual maps based on the 6 bonuses in Conquer Club’s already popular USA map. It has taken him just over 6 months to get all six maps to the final forge stage of development, and soon we will have 6 new maps that were specifically made so they could be the focus of many tournaments in the future… So this is very exciting news for us here in the Tournaments Forum…

Here is how WidowMakers came up with the idea…

WidowMakers wrote:Hey everyone,

Let me explain a little bit about how this map collection idea came about. I started playing some tournaments a while back and I really enjoy it. The time that the organizers spend is huge and the style, types and organization of each tournament allows for many different play styles for many different players. So thanks to all of the organizers and all they do.

This now brings me to the point of the new maps. I wanted to make a map collection that could be the focus of many different tournaments in the future. So I was thinking "what could I make that would fill this desire?" I looked over the maps we already have on CC and found it, the USA map.

The USA map has 6 bonus regions (West, Rockies, S. West, S. East, Great Lakes, New England) representing 48 of the 50 sates. I had the idea that each bonus region could be developed into its own map thus having a total of 6 maps. So the entire map set would be a total of 7 (these 6 region maps and the original USA map)

Won’t be long before we can play on all seven of these exciting maps, to get a preview of what you can expect visit this thread USA 6 Map Pack

Well that’s all from me for this weeks News Hound, I hope you have enjoyed this weeks issue.If you have an idea for a good story please feel free to PMsamuelc812

The Forum Reorganization occurred in October 2007.

Here are the tournaments that are currently taking signups. Just click the title to visit the thread.

Hello, tournament fans, players and organizers. Happy New Year!Hope you all had an enjoyable break. Time to dive right back into things. Sadly, our news team shrinks yet again as samuelc812 leaves us.As always, if you have any ideas or just want to help out, drop us a line.

samuelc812 wrote:I know i have had a short stay, but it is time for me to say goodbye, but only to the Tournament Newsletter, Don't worry i am going to keep writing for you guys until a replacement is found. I am currently working on another secret project with Foundry C.A. gimil to be revealed at a later date. And because of this, i will no longer be able to honour my commitment to this newsletter, i know the News Hound job has never been one that could be sustained for too long. Happy 2009 all

College Football Done RightOrganiser: flexmaster33Alabama (_big_easy_) beats Florida (doochbagbill) in the championship game by a 57-13 score. The Crimson Tide cruised through the tournament winning 11 of the 16 maps they played. Alabama's only challenge came in the quarterfinals when it split maps against USC (Night Strike), but due to some quick victories _big_easy_ came out well in front 45-28 in the scoring formula.Alabama also beat Oklahoma State 58-16 in the first round and Boise State 66-16 in the semifinals.This was the first tournament that _big_easy_ has entered on ConquerClub. Well done for the rookie

Thanks to all who played and look for a similar tourney in a couple months if you're interested.— flexmaster33

Now lets move on to today's topic which is images and how to put them to forums. This is used to make scoreboards. I'm going to give you step by step introduction how I make my image scoreboards. I'm sure there are other ways and programs to that can be used but I'll give you my point of view.